


Spin Cycle

by BuckyAndDanno



Category: 9-1-1 (TV), Rescue: Special Ops
Genre: 9-1-1 Season 3 AU, Buck Joins LA Rescue Operations, Buck Was In RSO, But at what cost?, Chase Gallagher Deserves Better, Chase Goes To LA, Chase Joins LA Rescue Operations, Chase Leaves AUS, Chase Saves Bingo's Life, Complete AU, Daddy!Buck, Daddy!Chase, Evan "Buck" Buckley Deserves Better, Love Declarations, M/M, One Sided Buddie, RSO Season 2 AU, RescueOfficer!Buck, Sort Of, Special Appearance By Jethro From Bondi Rescue, The Plot Bunnies Ran Wild, Tsunami (9-1-1 TV), reunited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28776210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyAndDanno/pseuds/BuckyAndDanno
Summary: Evan Buckley is tired. He’s tired of fighting for a job that clearly doesn’t want him back – for a family who doesn’t need him. He’s tired of being treated like a kid who knows nothing – who’s incapable of settling down. Then, to add to his bad luck, a tsunami hits LA.Except, maybe it doesn’t turn out to be such bad luck after all.Chase Gallagher is hurting. He doesn’t regret saving Bingo’s life and yet a month laid up in the hospital followed by more months of therapy leaves him out of place with the Rescue Special Ops team; unsure if he has a job or a family to go back to. When his therapist suggests separating himself from his brother, he takes the opportunity to visit one of the places he’s always wanted to go but never had the chance – LA.There, he reunites with an old friend, and realises that sometimes bad things have to happen before you can find the good.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Chase Gallagher
Comments: 12
Kudos: 162





	Spin Cycle

**Author's Note:**

> This started off as a random idea because I ended up binge watching Rescue: Special Ops and hated how they treated Chase sometimes, which led to thoughts about how similar he was to Buck. The plot bunnies then ran away with me, and it turned into this beast. Well, let’s call it a welcome back present from me to you, shall we? I know I haven’t been posting much lately, but I feel like I’m back in the zone now.
> 
> For those who haven’t seen RSO, I’ve tried to explain as much as possible without making it too heavy, but let me know if you have any questions :) Similarly, if you have watched RSO, this is an AU in regards to Bingo and Shane Gallagher. 
> 
> Special appearance by my favourite Bondi Lifeguard too! :D JETHRO!!!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own 9-1-1, Rescue: Special Ops, or Bondi Rescue. I’m just having fun amidst Covid Lockdowns.

The mid-day sun beats down upon the residents and tourists of Sydney, Australia, shining high in the sky and glistening off the large expanse of sea bordering the famed city.

At Bondi Beach, surfers take up much of the water, though several kayaks and other water sports can be spotted also. Slotted between the two safety flags, Rescue Special Operations Officer Chase Gallagher catches several smaller waves, wincing as he washes out and the movement jerks the still sensitive muscles of his back and shoulders. Catching his breath atop his retrieved board, he lets his eyes gaze roam around the sea and beach area. Despite the tumultuous thoughts that had led to him coming out to the ocean, he was always thankful that he was able to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

Rapid movements to his left catch his eyes, head whipping around to spot a man caught in backpacker’s rip. In an instant Chase is paddling with every bit of strength he has.

He knows the dangers of the riptides, especially this one, and while a part of him wants to berate the man for straying from the flags, he can’t deny the adrenaline that pumps through him at the thought of being the one to rescue the man. He knows there are lifeguards at the beach – famed ones to be accurate – but he knows from experience that they aren’t angels, that they can’t save everyone, and he doesn’t want to simply assume that they would spot the guy and get to him in time.

He can’t.

It isn’t in Chase Gallagher’s nature to sit back and let someone else do the work.

It’s the whole reason why he wasn’t taking his medical leave very well.

Well, one reason. The second was Gary Bing – but that was a whole story in itself.

He reaches the man quickly, pulling him up and onto the board and rubbing his back to help him expel any water he’d swallowed.

The man coughs and hacks several times, breathing heavily, before he manages a shaky “thanks” directed at Chase.

Chase just shakes his head, tells him to breathe slowly and that the lifeguards are coming. He can see the movement of a jet ski inching closer, and knows the rider can get them both away from the dangerous rip quicker than Chase could paddle them out with the extra weight now on his board. Plus, the man’s lips are tinged with a little bit of blue, and he looks very pale. It could simply be shock, but Chase doesn’t want to take any chances, and he knows the ski will have oxygen on board.

Moments later, a lifeguard with long blonde hair rides up to them, grinning at Chase. “That was either pretty brave or pretty stupid.”

Chase just laughs, helping to transfer the man from his board to the rescue board attached to the back of the Jet Ski. “Story of my life.”

The lifeguard speaks softly to the rescued man, before taking a portable O2 tank from where it was attached to his waist and passing it to the man. “Just breathe slowly with this mate.”

The man nods weakly from his place lain on the rescue board, holding to O2 canister close to his face so he can latch onto the mouthpiece.

The lifeguard looks back at Chase, still smiling. “I’m Jethro. You alright to grab a hand on the rescue board so I can give you a pull out of this rip?”

“Sounds good.” Chase grins back. “And I’m Chase.”

“Good to meet you Chase,” Jethro replies, then gestures to the man, “just make sure he doesn’t lose that, a’ight?”

“Got it.” Chase replies, latching one hand tight onto the rescue board’s handles, and reaching the other across to place it on the man’s own, securing the canister. “Ready.”

Jethro guns the jet ski, and then they’re heading quickly back to shore, where a little crowd has already gathered.

“Peter!” A woman is screaming. “Peter!”

As soon as they hit the shallows, Chase slips off his board without thinking, like second nature, helping Jethro get the man off the rescue board and onto dry land where his colleagues are waiting with further medical equipment and a buggy. As the two other lifeguards set about checking the man’s vitals and ensuring he’s getting enough oxygen, Chase feels the adrenaline rush out of him as quickly as it appeared. His shoulders and back ache fiercely, a sharp pain radiating across them, and he slumps to the sand with a low groan.

“You a’ight mate?” Jethro is kneeling beside him in an instant.

Chase nods softly. “Fine. Just… overexerted myself.”

“You were paddling like a maniac to get to him.”

Chase can’t help but laugh at that, even as it sends another shock across his shoulders. “Instinct.”

Jethro’s brows furrow briefly. “First responder?”

“That obvious?” Chase replies with a soft smile. “Rescue Special Ops. Though I’m on med leave right now.”

Throwing a quick glance to his colleagues to ensure they don’t need his assistance, Jethro focuses more intently on Chase. “You need anything? Ambo or…?”

“Nah.” Chase waves him off as the initial throb lessens, testing out his range of motion. “Was a couple of months ago. Still going through PT but was told I was okay to go back in the water for ‘light exercise’” He uses his fingers with an eye roll.

Jethro smiles, worry dissipating. “Which I’m guessing doesn’t include making yourself an honorary lifeguard?”

“Not at all.” Chase laughs. “Guess I’m lucky my brother isn’t here at least. He’d have my head.”

Jethro laughs. “I know what you mean. You want a lift back to the tower at least? We can give you a quick once over?”

“Nah, I’m fine. Honestly.” Chase waves him off again, pushing himself up to stand. “Just needed a minute.”

“If you’re sure.” Jethro replies, resting a light hand on Chase’s elbow. “Though if you’re looking for a change of work, we’re recruiting soon.” He says with a laugh.

Chase matches his grin. “I’ll think about it.”

If only it was a lie.

By the time he gets back to the car he has several messages from Dean, all regarding the same thing.

_Don’t forget your meeting with Michelle at 2!_

He rolls his eyes immediately, shoving the phone back into the centre console with some force. His relationship with his brother had become even tenser during the time of his medical leave, to the point where Dean was consistently babying him.

It didn’t help that they lived together, and Chase knew in part that he needed to get his own space, but it was just one more thing to add to the list of ‘people treating him differently or making him feel invisible’ and he hated it.

One thing was for sure, ever since the accident, Sydney just didn’t feel like home anymore.

_“You’re getting pizza.” He grins at Bingo from the entrance to RSO, watching as the other man continues to back away from him and rolls his eyes._

_“Yeah, yeah…”_

_It happens in an instant. Chase sees the movement out of the corner of his eye, makes the split second decision, and runs. He pushes Bingo hard, sending the other man flying toward the other side of the pavement, where he lands with a thud. The squeal of car brakes fills the air, but the impact still sets his body on fire, back arching, shoulders, neck and head hitting the bonnet before the momentum pushes him away from the vehicle._

_He falls, hitting asphalt, tastes lead, feels the crack of his head against solid, warm ground. His eyes blur, chest screaming with every breath._

_“Chase! Chase!” Bingo sounds weird, he thinks as he tries to clear the fog that swims in front of him, like he’s not really there, and then his brother’s voice is joining the fray, but he too sounds so far away._

_“D’n….” He groans softly, reaching out – at least, he thinks his arm his moving – and there’s the lightest touch on his hand, the prick of a needle, the familiar warmth of morphine._

_He relaxes, the pain fading, and then blackness takes him._

The memory is like another shock to his system, paralysing him for the longest moment before he can remind himself that he’s okay, that he’s safe, and then he’s pushing it back down into that deep, dark box and locking it tight.

Remembering it all is the last thing he needs – not when he has one goal and one goal alone.

To get back to Rescue.

Nothing else matters.

He has to see Emma before his meeting with Michelle, and where he’d first scoffed at the idea of having to see a therapist, the time with Emma had been the only thing he’d been really looking forward to as of late.

She was honest and open – listening to him and offering impartial advice – and he was pretty sure that he was becoming a better person which each hour they spent together.

Sometimes they didn’t even talk about the accident. Sometimes it was other things too.

Mainly, it was his brother, and the team; how he was feeling with everything going on.

Slowly, she was helping him to realise that none of it was his fault, and while he could certainly feel hurt by their actions, the only thing he needed to focus his energy on was getting healthy and getting back.

**If** that was what he still wanted.

If he was honest, he didn’t really know what he wanted anymore.

“You’ve followed your brother for so long.” She says softly, gaze boring into his own. “Maybe it’s time you did your own thing?”

It makes him understand why Jethro’s talk of him becoming a lifeguard hadn’t seemed so farfetched, and it stays with him throughout the entire ride to the RSO Base.

It hits him full force when he walks in to find the team joking around with Bingo like they didn’t miss him at all, hears Dean say “I know you’ve always got my back” like he hadn’t been working with his own brother for years.

In an instant, Chase feels his heart break.

He slips past them all easily, like a ghost, up to Michelle’s office. He sits quietly, nodding through everything, but it’s like there’s a fog around him that’s blurring everything, and he can’t focus, can’t truly hear her and comprehend what she’s saying.

Everything hurts, but in a completely different way to the pain he’d felt at the beach, the pain he’d felt since that car changed his life forever.

He just catches her saying “another month of PT and then you’ll be ready for light duty for another three. Recerts after that and…” and in an instant he’s standing, fists clenched at his side, shaking his head.

“Chase?” She queries, looking concerned, but he can’t bring himself to fall for it. It’s fake, all of it, he knows that now.

So many times he’s been treated differently by the team, berated for things they do constantly, and he – what? – took it as hazing still after three years with them? Just shrugged it off and accepted it?

Now he can see it for what it is. He isn’t blind anymore.

He knows they don’t want him here, and Chase won’t just sit back and let it happen. If they don’t want him, then he’s leaving on his own terms, breaking away from his brother, just like Emma said.

“No.”

His voice rings loud across the level, drawing eyes from outside the office even.

Michelle blinks, for a moment stunned. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m done.” Chase says, keeping his voice steady and even. He knows he needs to do this now, or he never will. “I quit.”

“I know it’s been hard…” She says, standing and moving toward him, but Chase just edges back, reaching for the door.

“You don’t know anything.” He tells her, and there’s no malice in it. He knows she’s had a baby to contend with. It doesn’t change the fact though that none of them have really been there for him. “None of you do.”

He’s out of the office before she can say another word, and maybe he would have left it at that – maybe he would have just left – were it not for the sounds he could hear emanating from the television, or the sounds of confusion from his former teammates.

_‘A scene of awe here today at Bondi Beach as a civilian assisted lifeguards after a man got into trouble in the infamous backpacker’s rip. The surfer was able to reach the man before lifeguards, helping him stay afloat in the dangerous currents.’_

“Chase?”

Then his brother is turning, catching the younger before he can escape, and the look of anger on Dean Gallagher’s face is not something that anyone wants to contend with.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“What does it matter?” Chase spits, frustrated with everything and not wanting to deal with his brother’s continued disappointment. “You’ve already made your mind up that I was an idiot, so why even bother trying to defend myself?”

“No, no, Chase, I actually wanna know.” Dean says, chuckling softly but looking downright annoyed. “I want to know why you put yourself in danger like that? You’re supposed to be healing. Do you even want to come back?”

In an instant, Chase’s expression morphs from frustration and hurt to downright fury. “Do you even want me back, Dean?” He spits, getting closer to his brother. “If you’re not babying me, then you’re ignoring me, and I’ve barely seen the rest of you in months!” He shoots a look over to the rest of the team behind Dean, watching with interest and concern. “I was doing what I’ve been trained to do, and what? You’re gonna rip me down for that?”

“Because you’re not ready!” Dean yells back. “You could have died and we wouldn’t have even known!”

“I know my own limitations Dean.” Chase says softly, hurt winning over everything else. “I’m not an idiot, despite what you think.” As his brother just shakes his head and blows out a huff of annoyance, Chase just turns away. “Anyway, I’m not coming back.”

Dean’s head whips back around, eyes wide. “What?”

Chase just laughs softly, defeated and tired. “I think this just further proves we need some time apart, and I… I can’t work with someone who doesn’t trust me.”

“So you’re what? Leaving?”

Chase shrugs. “Gonna travel for a bit. Find myself again. Emma suggested it.”

“You’re taking advice from a shrink?”

“I’m bettering myself Dean. Learning from my mistakes.” He takes one last glance at his brother, and gives a soft smile. “Maybe you should too.”

If only his heart didn’t feel quite as heavy as he drove away from them for the last time.

Evan Buckley stared at the piece of paper in his hands in shock and disbelief, fingers shaking where they were curled around the edges, official seal reflected in shining blue eyes.

_Dear Mr Buckley,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have passed all the required examinations and evaluations required to join the LA Rescue Operations team. After careful consideration, we would like to offer you a place on our Alpha team, effective from…_

He’d started the process almost a year ago, after everything with Abby and then his rivalry with Eddie, thinking that he needed somewhere new to start over, and while things had gotten so much better, he’d been curious to see how far he could get, even if his need for it had decreased.

Now though, it seemed like a shining beacon of hope in what had been months of unending darkness.

He loved the 118 dearly, but it was clear to him now that they didn’t think of him in the same way, and where Bobby had all but prevented him from coming back because of the blood thinners, LARO had been nothing but accommodating.

It made him feel like finally someone was on his side.

His hand grips tighter on the paper, and he’s ready to simply call the number and accept, to call Bobby and tell him that he’s actually done, but then there’s a click from his front door, and he finds himself shoving the paper back in the envelope on the counter instead.

“Eddie?” He frowns at the latino man as he enters with Christopher, while the other seems just as shocked to see Buck up and about.

“Uh…” Eddie blinks for a second, then smiles. “Thought you could use some company.”

Buck has to bite back a remark about being more like a free babysitter, but beams over at his favourite Diaz instead. “Hey Chris.”

“Hi Buck.” Chris beams back at him, and Buck’s heart just swells.

“Are you busy, or?” Eddie still seems a little unsure, almost like he was expecting Buck to be lost without them. Well, Buck thinks to himself, he isn’t, not anymore anyway.

“Not for Christopher.” Buck says, lifting the boy into the air and causing him to giggle. “We’ll have a fun day, won’t we buddy?”

“Yeah!”

Eddie seems to soften and relax, then nods. “Okay. I’ll pick him up after shift.”

Buck just waves him off, focusing on the boy in his arms.

He completely misses the look of fondness Eddie has on his face before he leaves.

As it turns out, a fun day did not at all include being swept up in a tsunami.

He feels like he’s been thrown into the spin cycle of a washing machine, turned upside down and inside out, lungs burning as he tries desperately to reach for air.

He breaks the surface, gulping in lungful’s of sweet oxygen, and then he’s screaming out until his throat is raw. “Chris! Christopher!”

“Buck!”

The frightened call comes from behind him, and then he’s fighting against the current to reach the boy, who’s thankfully managed to grab onto a pole. But Buck can see him trembling, and knows he can’t hold on for long.

“I’m slipping!”

“Just hold tight buddy! I’m coming!”

He pushes against the current with everything he has, grabs onto both boy and pole, holds them tighter than he’s ever held anything before.

Christopher sobs into his chest, and Buck curses inwardly that he brought them here, that Eddie had dropped him off in the first place. He curses that his usual bad luck has brought them here.

“I’ve got you.” He whispers, looking around for any sign of where to go next that might take them out of danger. His arm throbs fiercely, but he can’t focus on that right now. He just knows he has to get them out of there, has to get Chris to safety.

Then, like an angel, a voice calls out to them. “Grab onto this!”

A rope of lights splashes into the water in front of them, and Buck lets go of the pole, holds on tight, and lets their rescuer pull them towards a car wedged between a fire hydrant and a wall; a safe little island amongst the chaos.

He gets Christopher up on top first, then grabs the hand of the person there who helps him clamber up himself. For a moment, he tries to catch his breath, Christopher pressed against his side, and then he’s looking up at the man in question, and gives a gasp of realisation.

“Chase…”

Chase can’t help but look like an absolute tourist the moment he touches down in LA. He wishes he didn’t, but the city was simply so beautiful, so similar and yet so different to home, that he can’t not gawp.

He spends the first two days going to all of the tourist destinations – places he’s wanted to visit since he was a child – but on the third day he finds himself itching to surf, and what better he thinks than to try out the famed California beaches?

He spends a good portion of the morning in the water, enjoying being able to stretch his muscles again without worrying about his next PT appointment or even thinking about getting back to Rescue. It’s freeing, even if it’s also a little sad. After a few hours though his stomach begins growling at him, so he decides to get a bite to eat at the infamous Santa Monica pier.

If only he knew then where it would lead him.

He’s literally finished the last bite of his hot dog when he hears the terrified screams, the call of “Get off the beach! Go! Go!” and his instincts go straight into overdrive. Somehow he has the wherewithal to grab his board as he moves with the sudden influx of people trying to escape the pier, ushering people to move as he does, and then he makes the mistake of turning; makes the mistake of seeing the wall of water heading towards them.

Then he’s under, and it’s only through a miracle that the board remains intact; that the buoyancy brings him up fairly quickly and keeps him afloat.

All around him, is carnage.

He helps as many as he can, directing them to the closest bits of dry… something… but the current is moving fast and its taking him and the board away from those who need his help, and try as he might he just can’t get to them.

Try as he might, Chase Gallagher is failing, and that is something he will not stand for.

So he paddles as hard as he possibly can to get to the closest thing that’s out of the water – a car trapped between wall and hydrant – and heaves himself up onto it. Above him, a balcony boasts a string of lights, and he rips them down without thinking, throwing them across to the nearest person he can see who needs help – a man and young boy holding onto a pole.

“Grab onto this!”

Moments later, the two are safely atop the car with him, and then Chase is looking into the eyes of someone he hasn’t seen in three years – the one that got away.

“Chase…”

“Evan…”

The other man blinks in disbelief, then grins widely. “This is a far cry from Bondi.”

“I’m travelling.” Chase laughs in return. “Picked a hell of a place to start, eh?”

Evan just shrugs, “or maybe it’s fate?” and there’s something in the gaze that sends Chase’s insides flipping.

He pushes it down though, focusing instead on the task at hand and more specifically the young boy curled up against Evan’s side. “You okay, mate?”

“This is Christopher.” Evan supplies, then, “My friend’s son,” as if he feels the need to clarify. Chase files it away for later nonetheless.

“Nice to meet you Christopher.” Chase smiles at the kid. “I’m Chase.”

“Me and Chase were friends when I was all the way in Australia.” Evan adds, grinning at Chris, who looks up at Evan in awe.

“You went to Australia? Did you see a Kangaroo, Buck?”

Chase remembers the nickname with fondness, and can’t help but grin. “Nah, but Bucko here befriended a koala.”

“You did?”

“I did indeed.” Buck laughs. “What did we name him again?”

“King Kong.”

“Ah, yes, King Kong Koala.”

Christopher giggles loudly, and the two men share a smile at their ability to distract him from the horrors floating by, but it lasts only a moment before they realise that they can’t stay here forever.

“Okay Christopher. We’re gonna need to move somewhere else now. You okay with that buddy?” Chase asks.

Buck smiles at Chris, rubbing his back softly. “Chase is a hero like me and your Dad, so I know we can get us all somewhere safe.”

Chris nods. “Like the Avengers.”

“Exactly like that bud.” Chase grins. “The question is, which Avenger are you?”

“Iron Man!” Chris giggles with glee, distracted again as Chase looks up to the balcony above them, hatching a plan. In one move he throws the lights up and over the balcony.

“Well I tell you what.” He says, sharing a look with Buck and knowing the other man knows exactly what he’s thinking. “How about we fly like Iron Man?”

With the barest of items they managed to salvage from the car itself, they rig up a harness for Christopher. Chase climbs the lights first, with Buck holding onto the other end and helping to pull him up, allowing the man to slip onto the balcony. He sends the lights back down, allowing Buck to hook Chris onto them next. Slowly, they raise him up until he’s beside Chase. Sending the lights down one final time, Chase helps Buck scale up to the balcony also where, away from the still rushing water, the three are able to make it several blocks via other balconies and close roofs, before they’re forced to head lower once more.

“Over there!” Buck calls, pointing to an abandoned fire truck that’s only half submerged in the water. The tide seems to have calmed somewhat – though Buck knows it’s only the calm before the storm – meaning they’re able to drop back into the water and make their way over to the fire truck without too much hassle.

“Help!”

It starts with two people trapped in a car, one with a head injury, and ends with almost two dozen, themselves included, huddled atop the truck. Buck and Chase work together seamlessly, building what they need from what they can find and rescuing anyone nearby.

“Just like the good ol’ days, huh?” Chase grins over at Buck, and despite the situation they’ve found themselves in, the company and remembrance does bring some levity to them both.

Buck laughs softly, fondly. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

Between rescues, Chase tells Christopher about all the rescues that he’s been apart of, and the ones he did with Buck, and the eight year old warms to him so much to the point where he falls asleep curled up in Chase’s lap.

Chase looks down at the child before looking over at Buck, who’s watching them both fondly. “I’ve missed you, you know?”

“Yeah,” Buck takes his hand, giving it a single squeeze, “I’ve missed you too Chasie.”

Then a feint cry catches their ears, and they both whip around, eyes wide as they catch sight of a young girl being pulled down the street by the now rapidly changing current.

“The water’s pulling back out.” Buck says quickly, grabbing the rescue rope they’d knotted onto the top rails of the truck. “Watch him!” He yells to Chase, motioning to Chris, and then he’s in the water, pushing as hard as he can to reach the little girl.

Chase holds on tight to Christopher as the new current rocks the truck, telling everyone to hold onto each other and the rails, heart in his mouth as he watches Buck disappear and reappear beneath the choppy, unpredictable onslaught of water.

Then, like a miracle, he reaches her, both heads above the surface, one arm wrapped tight around the rope. Chase shifts, gripping the other end of the rope and pulling tightly. His muscles burn fiercely, pain shooting up his spine and neck as the rope is tugged and jerked by the current, but he refuses to let go until Buck and the girl are safely atop the truck.

Buck gasps, expelling a small mouthful of water, but then his focus is on the crying girl in his arms, whispering gently to her that she’s safe and that they won’t let anything happen to her.

“What’s your name, sweetie?” He asks softly, holding her close and rubbing her back.

“E-Evie…” She cries into his chest, shuddering, though it only takes a few minutes for her to calm somewhat, reassured by the strong warmth of Buck’s arms and his kind tone.

“Where are your parents, Evie?” Chase asks her, also soft, and she gives him a strange, calculating look – like she’s not sure she can trust him – before she answers.

“D-Don’t… have…” She sniffles, and both their hearts break. She can’t be older than four.

“There’s an orphanage a couple of blocks up.” Buck whispers, holding her closer, and Chase can’t help but shake his head. He hopes that anyone else there had gotten out okay, but knows there’s little they can do with what they have. The movement sends a sharp pain through his neck once more, and Chase gasps, sagging a little against the back railing.

“You okay?” Buck asks, suddenly worried. He keeps a tight grip on Evie while also reaching a hand across for both Chase and Chris.

“Yeah.” Chase grunts out, trying to keep the spasming muscles from moving suddenly. “Yeah.”

“Chase…” Buck gives him ‘the look’ and Chase knows he’s lost before he can even begin to come up with an excuse. Still, he hates the look of pity he knows Buck will give him.

“Accident a couple o’ months back.” He grinds out eventually, looking away. “I was on med leave when I quit.”

Buck blinks at him, and it’s not quite the expression that Chase had thought he would receive. The soft words that come next “yeah, me too” have Chase’s eyes snapping up to meet Buck’s own, sure that his own confusion shows.

“You…?”

Buck just chuckles. “Guess Vince was right when he said we’re two peas in a pod.”

“He’s right about most things.” Chase agrees with his own laugh. “I uh… got hit by a car, saving my colleague. Things changed too much at ops and I… I guess I didn’t feel like I belonged there anymore.”

Buck nods, and the look he gives Chase is more of understanding than anything else. “I got my leg crushed by a fire truck.”

This time it’s Chase who’s left blinking wordlessly at Buck, who just laughs softly in response.

“Yeah, it’s kinda as dumb as it sounds.”

“A fire truck?” He’s reminded suddenly of Buck’s words before they climbed the balcony, and gestures toward Chris. “When you said you and his Dad are heroes…”

“Firefighters.” Buck supplies. “Chris likes to think of us as the Avengers.”

“So that’s what you left Aussie for.”

Buck just shrugs, suddenly sombre again. “I left because I was an idiot. Sometimes I wonder if I gave up too much for nothing.”

Chase eyes him for a moment, but doesn’t question it. Sat atop a fire truck in the middle of raging torrents is hardly the time for them to dredge up past feelings and mistakes. Instead he says, “so you quit?”

“Kinda yelled at my boss when he said the words ‘light duty’ so… yeah…”

Chase laughs, trying to bring a little more levity to the conversation again. “You been spying on me Bucko?”

“You allergic to those words too?”

“You see either of us doing anything other than everything we can?” Chase replies, gesturing around them. “See, I don’t think people get that about us. I literally can’t not do what I was born to do.”

Buck nods. “Yeah, my Captain doesn’t really get that either. It’s like he thinks I’m a liability or something.”

“Dean’s the same.”

“Still as hard headed as always?”

Chase guffaws, thinking of his brother. “Yep. He means well but…”

“Bobby too.”

A sigh. “I just wish he trusted me.”

Buck rests a hand on Chase’s shoulder then, blue eyes boring into green eyes. “I trust you.”

Chase grabs Buck’s hand, squeezing it tight, and they stay like that for a long moment before the bright white of a search light breaks the moment, the beautiful sound of a boat engine filling the air.

“LA Rescue Operations!” A voice calls out. “Stay where you are! We’ll get you all down!”

Buck breaks away from the touch, leaning over to shout back to the approaching boat. “We have two serious injuries and several minor!”

Over the course of the next few moments, the LARO officers evacuate everyone onto the boat, prioritising the more serious injuries first, followed by the minor. Then they’re heading towards a field hospital on the outskirts of the damage.

Buck, Chris, Chase and Evie stay huddled together; the children asleep and the adults exhausted and drowsy. By the time they pull up at the hospital and are helped down from the boat, Buck feels about ready to collapse.

Then he sees Eddie.

Abruptly, his heart stops, because even though Chris is safely tucked in his arms, just waking, the fact still remains that he’d been in serious danger because of Buck.

The fact remains that the team are here to see him bruised and beaten once again, and once more they’re going to see him as a liability.

It makes his feet freeze to the floor, unable to move until a groggy Chris spots his father and calls out happily, “Dad!”

Eddie turns, panic widening his eyes as he catches sight of Christopher and Buck. “Chris? Christopher?!” Then he’s running towards them, pulling Chris into his arms and appraising every inch of him before looking at Buck and appraising him too. “What happened? Why are you…?”

Buck just blinks, hazy and tired and scared, and he just can’t bring himself to speak.

“Were you at the pier?”

Buck’s breath hitches, panic consuming him, but then he sees Chase buckle, Evie still in his arms, and in a flash he’s grabbing the girl and reaching out to hold Chase up. “Chasie?”

Chase is blinking up at Evan, dazed, and Buck doesn’t know how he missed the clear concussion signs in his friend’s eyes. “I need help!” He cries as Chase’s eyes roll back into his head and he collapses completely, hung like a rag doll in Buck’s grip.

In seconds Eddie is at their side, Chris clinging to Buck’s leg, and checks Chase over, cursing at the crusted blood above the man’s ear. “Head injury.” He waves over Hen and Chim, who stare shocked at Buck for a slight moment before turning their full attention to Chase.

“Let’s get him inside.”

Buck can only watch as the friend he’s missed for so long and only just seen again is rushed into the hospital, unconscious and hurt, and he can’t quite describe the intense panic that seems to fill his stomach and chest at the sight. “Chase…”

Then his own exhaustion creeps up on him, the wetness of blood dripping down his arm suddenly warm and there, and his own knees are crumpling to the unforgiving concrete.

“Buck!”

He comes to in the intense bright whiteness that has become so annoyingly familiar to him. A groan escapes his lips, and then he hears the familiar gasp of his sister before Maddie whispers his name.

Flickering his eyes open fully, he manages to direct them to his sister’s face despite the intense ache that seems to consume his entire body. “Maddie…”

“You like scaring me, don’t you?” She asks with a wet laugh. It’s clear she’s been crying, and his heart aches at the sight.

“Don’t mean to.”

“Comes with the territory.” Another says, and Buck turns his head to the other side of the bed to spot Eddie, Christopher in his lap. “Hey buddy.”

Buck licks dry lips, eyes on Chris. “He okay?”

“Scared and tired, but yeah.” Eddie smiles softly. “You kept him safe.”

Buck smiles softly, reaching out to squeeze Chris’ hand, but then the boy says “Bucky and Chase kept me safe!” and Buck is instantly reminded of his friend collapsing in front of him.

“Chase?” He asks, looking back to his sister. “Where’s Chase?”

His sister just looks at him, confused, and it’s only then that Buck’s fuzzy mind reminds him that none of them know about his time in Australia. He shakes his head, looking back at Eddie. “The guy I came in with? Hen and Chim brought him in?”

“I don’t know, Buck.” Eddie replies. “They brought him in but… you know him?”

“Yeah.” Buck chokes, worry for Chase consuming him. “Yeah, I do.”

“Bucky rescued lots of people with Chase, like they did in Australia.” Chris cheerfully informs his father and Maddie. “And Chase told me that Bucky met a Koala!”

Buck laughs softly, remembering the moment. It does something to relieve a little of his panic at least. “We were just doing what we’re meant to do buddy.” He tells Chris, but he can see the words register with Eddie just the same.

“Because you’re heroes!” Chris cheerfully adds.

Buck just smiles before Maddie touches her brother’s arm and says. “I’ll find out for you.”

Buck turns his attention back to her, frowning. “I’m – ”

“In need of rest.” She says before he can argue. “What’s his name?”

“Gallagher.” Buck gives in after a short moment, knowing he won’t be able to win. “Chase Gallagher.”

“Okay.” She presses a kiss to his forehead, and then she’s gone.

Buck sighs and slumps back to the bed.

“You okay?” Eddie frowns, looking at him with concern.

Buck manages a small nod, body still aching. “Just tired.”

Eddie’s silent for a moment before he speaks again. “So you were in Australia?”

Buck can’t help but laugh. He knows Eddie all too well by this point, even if their friendship had been somewhat strained lately. “Go on, ask what you really want to ask.”

“I don’t – ”

“How do I know Chase?” Buck raises a brow at Eddie, smirking a little. “It’s kind of a long story.”

“We’ve got time.”

Buck shrugs, picking at the threads of the blanket across his lap. “I’m sure you’ve heard stories about how I was when I started here but… no-one knows the true story. Those few months… I was hurting Eddie. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Because of Australia?”

A sad chuckle escapes him. “Because of Shane Gallagher. Chase’s dad.” At Eddie’s confused expression, Buck sighs and continues. “My Dad was emotionally manipulative, never gave a shit about me and Maddie, never thought we were good enough. So as soon I turned 18 I got the first Visa I could and got out of the US. Went to Aussie, did some jobs bartending and eventually made it into the lifeguards at a beach just west of Bondi. One day I save this guy from a bad rip, but my board gets pulled out with both of us on it. I managed to get us onto this little rock bed by the cliffs, but there was no way we could get off it again. So my colleagues called Rescue. This guy comes abseiling down the sheer rock face with absolutely no fear and my first thought was… who is this guy? The second was that I wanted to do that too.”

“Chase.” Eddie supplies, and Buck nods.

“Yeah, he and his brother, Dean, pulled us up off the rock and got us back to the beach. The next day he swings by and tells me that he saw some news footage of me getting out there like an absolute maniac, and wanted to let me know they were recruiting. Then he asks for my number.” A wry smile graces his lips as he remembers the two years he spent working with them. “It was a time I wanted to keep going forever, except his Dad… I guess he thought we were something that was gonna fizzle out. Some phase. ‘Til I asked him if I could marry Chase…”

Tears spring to his eyes then, and Eddie is quick to reach a hand across for his friend, squeezing softly. “I’ll never forget the things he said to me, but I… I couldn’t let Chase know. So I lied to him, said that the place was too small for me. That I needed to explore, stretch my wings, or something like that. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on his face… even as he tried to smile and told me that ‘if it made me happy, then it made him happy’…” Buck shakes his head, pulling away from Eddie’s grip. He doesn’t deserve it.

“I moved to LA a week later. My rescue training and knowledge helped me get through the academy quicker than usual. Started at the 118 within three months. What they all saw… was a tired boy who just wanted to be loved…” His voice breaks on the last few words, sobs bubbling up in his throat.

Eddie shifts with Chris now sleeping again in his lap, and pulls Buck into a tight embrace. “Evan…”

It’s the first time Eddie’s ever called him by his first name, and it shocks Buck enough that he pulls back, meeting Eddie’s eyes. There’s something there then that Buck can’t quite describe, but he knows exactly what it means, and it’s just too little too late. It’s something that he can’t deal with when Chase could be in a room down the hall fighting for his life.

He shakes his head, pulling away from the touch. “Don’t.”

“Evan…”

“Please…” Buck croaks, unable to meet Eddie’s eyes.

“Because of him?”

“Because of us.” Buck chances a look up at Eddie, gaze tear filled. “Things haven’t been the same since the accident and you know it, and I… I’m okay with that, I mean… it’s life… But… I can’t have my heart broken again Eddie… not by you…”

The air stills, both men suddenly silent, before the door cracks open and a nurse pokes her head in. “Mr Buckley?”

There’s another moment before Eddie excuses himself and Christopher, and while it hurts to see them go, especially after the day they’ve just had, he knows he had to say it. While he may have been harbouring feelings for Eddie for a while, the man’s lack of empathy and care since the truck blew up – the lack of anything from the team at all – had damaged Buck, and he wasn’t willing to take that risk now.

And Chase…

“I need to take you to paediatrics.” The nurse continues. “There’s a young girl there who’s adamant to see you.”

Buck blinks, concern rising again. “Evie? Is she okay?”

“Scared and confused.” The nurse tells him with a smile. “But it seems you’ve made an impression.”

It warms him to think so, and before he knows it he’s sat in a wheelchair two floors above, arms cradling the four year old as he reads a story to her, smile plastered on his lips. Where this morning he’d been clinging to a single lifeline of hope that he could start something new in LA, could heal from the past months of torment, he now had several strands beginning to blossom, and could only imagine where he was going to go from here.

So when a woman comes in an hour later and explains that she’s from social services, confirms that Evie had been resident at the orphanage, he says straight away that he wants to foster her with intention to adopt.

The woman seems shocked by his quick decision, though he can detect the warmth of her tone when she confirms his decision. She’s able to have one of her colleagues send her his file easily enough, and the only slight hitch is when she asks him about his employment status.

“It says here that you’re on medical leave with the LAFD?”

Still, Buck doesn’t hesitate when he says. “I was offered to return to light duty, but I actually received a job offer with LARO this morning. The pay is double what I was on, and I was actually closing in on a new house as well.”

She gives him a strange look as she says, “It’s almost like you’re psychic Mr Buckley.”

He just laughs. “Just lucky, I guess.”

What had started as a way to separate from his old life and the baggage that came with it, now seemed to be a blessing in disguise, and he couldn’t be more thankful. After everything he’d been through, Evie seemed now to be his beacon in all of the darkness.

Smiling down fondly at the sleeping child, he says. “She deserves the world.”

The woman smiles softly, nodding. “I think everything seems okay here. You’ve an exemplary record Mr Buckley. I have no qualms in appointing you as her guardian for the time being; you just need to sign here. We can start looking at adoption procedures once you’re ready.”

He signs his name in a flash, thanking her, and then the two are left alone. Buck smiles widely, pulling Evie closer, and promises her silently that he will always be there for her and protect her.

Fate had thrown him so many curveballs in his life, but it had also now given him Evie, and that wasn’t something he was going to squander.

He certainly wasn’t going to let others dictate his life anymore either, and that started with putting the LAFD behind him.

He just had one more thing to do first.

His sister finds him in the cafeteria with Evie, sharing a sandwich. She looks confused at the child’s sudden appearance, but says nothing, instead telling him “Your friend’s awake.”

And that’s how he finds himself at Chase’s bedside, Evie in his lap, one hand wrapped around the other man’s as they both laugh at a story Buck was telling him.

“So then another one calls out, and before we know it, me and Bobby have five women giving birth and just the two of us there to do anything about it.”

“Sounds stressful.” Chase says with a grin, as his free hand moves to itch at the bandage on his head.

“Don’t play with it.” Buck chastises with a grin. “You’re as bad as me.”

“Isn’t that why we worked so well together?” Chase shoots back. “Least ‘til you decided to become one of them.”

“Oh, I was wondering when this would come up.” Buck guffaws.

“I just can’t believe you joined the fieries!”

“Is Jake still as bad as he was?”

“Worse!”

Their laughs echo around the room and then Buck sombers, smirking over at Chase. “I’m not going back anyway. Rescue’s where I belong.”

“Is that so?” Chase asks with a raised brow.

“Fresh start.” Buck replies, smiling down at Evie. “In some ways anyway…”

“And in others?”

Buck pauses for a moment. “Fixing mistakes.” A beat passes, eyes locked, before he slots their fingers together atop the bed. “Chase…”

“I know what Dad said.”

Buck blinks. “What?”

“You think I was really that okay with you leaving Evan?” Chase asks, shaking his head. “I was a mess for days. Dad came clean eventually but… I didn’t know where you went and you’d changed your number.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I should have said something.”

Chase just smiles, squeezing his hand tightly. “We were young and stupid, Ev. Everyone makes mistakes, and I know you were just trying to protect me.”

“Doesn’t make it right though.”

“Maybe not but… what’s done is done. Are you really gonna keep beating yourself up over it or…” Chase lets his hand slip to Evan’s chin, bringing his eyes up to meet his own. “are you gonna believe that fate’s given us a second chance?”

“Is it really that simple?” Buck asks, like he can’t quite believe what Chase is saying.

“It is if you want it to be.” Chase replies. “Why else did I pick LA, at this time? Why else did we end up at the pier together?”

“We live in two different countries.”

“I mean… I was thinking I’d stay in LA… if you’ll have me?”

Buck laughs. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

Chase just shrugs. “I was awake for a while before you graced me with your presence.”

“I mean you should be humbled.”

“I am humbled.” A grin, slotting their fingers back together. “So what do you say?”

Buck’s grin matches his, leaning down to press their lips together.

“Yes.”

**Two Years Later**

“You ready?” Buck grins at his husband as they finish securing their lines.

Chase doesn’t reply, simply grins back and starts rappelling down the cliff face.

Buck laughs and heads down after him.

At the base they’re quick to secure their two victims into baskets, then Buck clicks on his radio. “Rescue One Portable to Rescue Two Portable. Baskets secure.”

“This is Rescue Two Portable. Copy. Lifting baskets now. Hold position Rescue One.”

“Copy.”

“I sent Dean our flight schedule for next week.” Chase tells him as they wait for the lines to be sent back down. “And Bobby said to arrive at seven tonight.”

Buck takes a look at his watch. “Should be fine unless we get another shout.”

“Don’t tempt it.” Chase laughs, knocking their shoulders.

Buck just pulls him into a kiss. “I wouldn’t dare.”

When they arrive at Eddie’s that afternoon to cries of “Daddy! Papa!” and “Bucky! Uncle Chase!” neither can hide the beaming grins that spread across their faces as they’re barrelled into by Christopher and Evie.

Hugging the kids tightly, Buck sends a grin over to Carla above their heads. “An angel as always, Carla.”

She huffs a laugh. “Long as you boys are staying out of trouble.”

Chase cackles. “Trouble’s our middle name.”

“Don’t I know it!”

And when they’re curled up on the deck beside the fire pit at Bobby’s that evening, watching the kids play and the adults converse, happy to have most of their family together and the rest only one week and a flight away, neither finds themselves able to keep their eyes open. Snuggling into his husband’s side, Chase stifles a yawn but says, “did you ever think we’d get this?”

Buck shakes his head. “I think I hoped but…”

“Fate always had a way with us didn’t it?”

“It gave back though, in the end.”

“Yes, it did.”

And as the two share a kiss, both know for certain that sometimes you have to weather the bad before the good can shine through.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the fic! I know it’s not super realistic, and the ‘fix it ending’ isn’t the best, but I just wanted to give Buck and Chase the world but also wanted them to have their families :D


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